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Writer: StarReader
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The three sacred beasts sped through the sky, with Chu Qingcheng watching over the unresponsive Zhuo Fan trailing behind them.
As various landscapes zipped by her, she finally found the courage to speak. “Senior Kungpeng, what if it doesn’t work?”
“What won’t?” Kunpeng gave an instinctive reply, his mind elsewhere.
“What if the Heavenly Rebirth Lake won’t wake up Zhuo Fan? What if he won’t remember anything?” Chu Qingcheng couldn’t help but think of the uncertainty of it all. She might hope with all her being for Zhuo Fan to wake up and be with her, but a sliver of doubt still lingered in the back of her mind.
Kunpeng stared back, the questions finally sinking in, showing on his aged features that he was just as afraid of this possibility becoming reality. The conflict with Heavenly Sovereign had been gone for millennia and now it finally came to a head. He would do all he could to make sure they would be the one winning this battle. The lives of everyone in Sacred Domain was at stake. Losing would mean dooming the human race.
Qingcheng reeled at the raw emotions on his face, wishing she had kept it all to herself. Now she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was bound to go wrong in their plan to wake Zhuo Fan and that they were best thinking of other means, no matter how exhausted the possibilities were.
The bleak mood even got to Dragon Ancestor. “Like that’s gonna happen! That kid better wake up. He has a lot to answer for, especially keeping me locked up after all I’ve done for him. The cheeky punk had the nerve to drain me strength just so he could through my attacks around without qualm.”
Chu Qingcheng chuckled, [That sounds like Zhuo Fan alright.]
Sea Ao added, “Whichever the case may be, we won’t know unless we try everything, no matter how remote the chances.”
The group fell silent as they sped up even more, realizing how much was at stake and that they were the only ones that could do something about the ever-worsening situation. The biggest problem was Heavenly Sovereign and having no information about his current condition or why he hadn’t finished them off by now.
At one point in their journey, they noticed the looming endless blackness at the side.
“So, this is the power of the Supreme Stage. I can’t sense anything from it. It’s like the Sacred Domain ends at its borders, with the only difference being that even the sky has been affected.” Kunpeng surmised, feeling humbled before the sheer might and unknown power of this new force.
Sea Ao said with equal worry, “It’s nothing like the strange black flame Zhuo Fan is using. This feels like it’s a step beyond, stable and absolute.”
The ever-rash Dragon Ancestor glossed over it. “Who cares? Once the punk wakes up, we’ll know exactly what that thing is and how we should deal with it. Besides, it’s not exactly doing anything bad by itself, just a part of the landscape, albeit pregnant… and looming.”
Its presence, or lack thereof got to even Dragon Ancestor, unable to make sense of how something like this could exist.
“Let’s just take things one at a time. First, we wake Zhuo Fan and then we’ll know more about it. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious and we can just forget it until Heavenly Sovereign is taken care of.” Kungpeng refocused on the task ahead, on the solution, instead of depressing about all these unknowns without with no clear answer on how to tackle them.
Chu Qingcheng listened to their talk with half a mind, her focus being on Zhuo Fan and his well-being. The other girls might have said they didn’t blame her, but she blamed herself for what has happened to him. Now, she only wished she could be of help to him. To see his smile once more.
As the hours turned into days, Kungpeng spoke up at last with a renewed hope in his voice, breaking the dreadful silence their uncertain future gripped their hearts. “We’ll be upon the Heavenly Rebirth Lake in a moment and Zhuo Fan will wake up and deal with Heavenly Sovereign.”
The other sacred beasts perked up as well, enlivened now that they could see a way out, a chance at life.
But Chu Qingcheng wasn’t infected by his joy, on account of the increasingly decayed landscape becoming prominent as they delved further. “Is this normal? Senior Kunpeng, are we heading the right way?”
“It’s only some wilted foliage, nothing to worry about. A Sovereign’s seat of enlightenment never decays so long as its path remains with it.” Kungpeng dismissed her worries, too elated to let her bleak outlook dampen his spirits.
The closer they got, however, the quieter they became, for the decay grew more apparent, affecting the animals and beasts as well. There was not a single sign of life anything could survive here, with the worst of it all being a cesspool up ahead bubbling with foul stench of death.
“How did this happen? Where is Nine Serenities?” Kunpeng panicked.
“Nine Serenities is alive?” Chu Qingcheng gasped.
“He overlooked the Heavenly Rebirth Lake, unable to reincarnate until he knew Zhuo Fan was aware to his past and what choice he would make from it.” Kunpeng’s eyes darted all over the place, looking for a sign of anything that might suggest this place was anything but a rotten pool of decay.
“You’re late.” A familiar old man faded in before them.
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